I'm about 1/4 finished with the transcribing. I've got a program to slow down the audio so it's easier to catch everything, but it's still a heavily involved process and easily discouraging, especially for a novice like myself.

I'm about 1/4 finished with the transcribing. I've got a program to slow down the audio so it's easier to catch everything, but it's still a heavily involved process and easily discouraging, especially for a novice like myself.

Should be OK. Bob seems to give it his approval. It's out of print, of course, and the label, DOVe, is defunct, but Time Again was a Nelson Thall outfit. I'd think that's long gone, too; but we'll have to wait and see if Thall notices or even cares now.

By the way, Bob, I think I've read you saying something about an album Dave Newfeld did similar to BME using McLuhan audio in 1994. I seemed to have found that at random on Soulseek just this month and downloaded it. It was called The Medium is the Message, and posed a whole lot of similarities to BME, and included a song called "Newfeld's Theme," which makes it a dead ringer.

Can you tell me a bit more about it, so I can dedicate a full topic to it? Google is skimpy on the details.

Should be OK. Bob seems to give it his approval. It's out of print, of course, and the label, DOVe, is defunct, but Time Again was a Nelson Thall outfit. I'd think that's long gone, too; but we'll have to wait and see if Thall notices or even cares now.

Monsquaz

BOB: Since it's not my album, I'm not authorized to grant anything about its distribution. But I heard years ago that both albums were circulating on the Web. I don't know what Thall thinks about that - never discussed it with him. You guys are on your own as to what you do with them.

By the way, Bob, I think I've read you saying something about an album Dave Newfeld did similar to BME using McLuhan audio in 1994. I seemed to have found that at random on Soulseek just this month and downloaded it. It was called The Medium is the Message, and posed a whole lot of similarities to BME, and included a song called "Newfeld's Theme," which makes it a dead ringer.

Can you tell me a bit more about it, so I can dedicate a full topic to it? Google is skimpy on the details.

Monsquaz

BOB: From what I've gleaned from Thall and Newfeld, between Dec. '90 and late '93 or early '94, Dave Newfeld was successively contracted to make 3 albums for Nelson Thall. Not all 3 at the beginning, but the success of BME1 led serendipitously (for Newfeld) to BME2, and then to the McLuhan album. Thall dreamed their existence and Newfeld manifested his wishes and was remunerated accordingly by Thall. For me, they're all the product of Dave's imagination with a few peripheral suggestions from Nelson thrown in.

I personally, if I had produced the albums back then, would have done them a lot differently, I suppose. For example, the phrase "everything's disappeared" would not have been presented as an ideology that I promoted or believed in. I would've presented it as the forlorn complaint by an advertising executive.

And Negativland's contribution to BME2 was a gross misinterpretation of my attitude to TV. I regard their offering as a satirical response to Newfeld's interpretation of my radio work. It is relatively funny in that context. I know Belanger considers Negativland as gross wimps in how they covered their asses once they were paid by Thall. According to Gerry, Negativland was not duped. I wasn't privy to what actually happened but Belanger used to have a website where he gave his side on the making of the albums. I don't know where it is now. I remember he had misinterpreted my role on that website. I don't know why he did. He kept me relatively informed of his early involvement in the packaging and distribution of BME while presenting some of my stuff in his new HYPE magazine in late '91/early '92. I figured he knew I had nothing to do with Dave's work. Maybe Gerry assumed I was involved (he was very young at the time and perhaps Thall kept him at arm's length). I know that BME1 arrived in Thall's office from the factory on April 22. I heard later Thall was not happy with how Gerry promoted the album and formed Time Again Productions to take over the distribution of both BME albums and then the McLuhan effort. But I was not in Toronto during that transition and only heard hearsay from the respective individuals involved.

However, in early '93 Nelson asked me to produce the video for the song, "Everything's Disappeared." I did that without any payment from Thall. I took the opportunity to put my charts into the video. Two versions were made.

On the weekend they were completed, COSG member Michael Townsend (I think that's his name) who had a SubGenie show (called Dad's New Slacks) in Portland, Maine, contacted me at the video production studio and subsequently interviewed me that evening. In LA, 3 or 4 months later, while staying at Gerry Fialka's in Venice, Calif., Gerry played me Stang's response to Townsend's show which had included his interview with me. On that particular Hour of Slack, Stang said he had been swearing at the sky every morning since he had heard of BME1 in the spring of '92. But once he had heard my buoyant attitude about the whole controversy and Townsend's appeal to Stang to accept the album, Stang relaxed and vowed never to think of or acknowledge me again. Townsend and I had finally given him SLACK on the Thall project (although Stang thought I had maneuvered Thall into making the album - little did he know, ha!). One can get that particular HOS, I assume - it would be sometime in the Spring of '93. Check it out. It's a sublime hoot.

And the video is a classic. Thall should put it "up" on YouTube.

Now, mons, you've listened to a lot of me this summer. I would like to hear what you've gotten out of my take on the circumstances surrounding your life.

Bob Dobbs

Last edited by sixbodied on Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:44 am; edited 1 time in total

By the way, Bob, I think I've read you saying something about an album Dave Newfeld did similar to BME using McLuhan audio in 1994. I seemed to have found that at random on Soulseek just this month and downloaded it. It was called The Medium is the Message, and posed a whole lot of similarities to BME, and included a song called "Newfeld's Theme," which makes it a dead ringer.

Can you tell me a bit more about it, so I can dedicate a full topic to it? Google is skimpy on the details.

Monsquaz

Monsquaz,

FYI, the set of tapes I was given consisted of the following, and I assume that's how they were circulating back in the mid 1990's: